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Tag: Crisis Management

  • Most Founders Would Hide a Secret Service Investigation From Customers — Here’s Why I Didn’t (and How It Paid Off) | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In 2012, just after wrapping up a late-night hackathon with my small team, I received an email that sent my heart leaping into my throat: Our domain was being suspended due to a U.S. Secret Service investigation. At the time, Jotform was still a scrappy startup. We had no legal team, no PR advisor, no crisis plan whatsoever. I had a terrible, sinking feeling that everything we had worked so hard to build was suddenly at risk.

    After the initial shock, my first thought came to me with surprising clarity: We had to alert our users. I quickly typed up a blog post and emailed our customers directly.

    I kept it brief and to the point. “I wish we could provide more details about what happened, but we are also in the dark. We have not been given any information by GoDaddy or the Secret Service, other than our domain being suspended ‘as part of an ongoing law enforcement investigation,’” I wrote, before directing them to the media coverage quickly proliferating across the web.

    What happened next surprised me. Instead of backlash, we saw an outpouring of support. Users stood by us. It turned a crisis into a moment of trust.

    In the age of AI, where decision-making and product experiences are increasingly being handed over to algorithms, transparency matters more than ever. Users want to know what’s happening behind the scenes — and who they’re trusting with their data, time and business. If you want loyalty, transparency isn’t just a good habit: It’s your most powerful PR tool. Here’s why.

    Related: Full Transparency Is More Than a Morale Booster — It’s a Critical Growth Driver. Here’s How to Embrace It.

    Transparency vs. oversharing

    We never actually figured out exactly why our domain was being investigated — my best guess is that our forms were used in a phishing scheme. It wasn’t a big scandal, which certainly made being honest easier than, say, a self-inflicted crisis a la the Cambridge Analytica debacle.

    I’d always believed in transparency, and this episode only reaffirmed its importance. But as leaders, when and how to be open isn’t always immediately obvious. As the author Simon Sinek put it, “Transparency isn’t sharing every detail. Transparency means providing the context for the decisions we make.”

    According to research from McKinsey, there’s a dark side to too much transparency: “Excessive sharing of information creates problems of information overload and can legitimize endless debate and second-guessing of senior executive decisions,” the authors write.

    So how should leaders balance being open without going over the top? Start by asking: What does my team or customer need to understand in order to trust our decisions? Transparency isn’t about dumping every internal memo or half-formed idea into the public sphere. In the case of Jotform’s Secret Service investigation, our forms were down and our customers deserved to know why. Sharing the truth simply made more sense than trying to cover it up.

    A good transparency policy means sharing what matters — what happened, what’s being done about it and how it impacts those who rely on you. Anything more is noise. Anything less can be perceived as evasive.

    Transparency in the age of AI

    Jotform’s Secret Service snafu happened long before AI entered the scene. But the lesson it taught me — that users respond to honesty, not perfection — feels even more relevant now.

    AI is increasingly embedded in the tools we use every day, from hiring platforms to productivity apps, meaning the stakes around transparency have never been higher. Users are deciding whether to trust algorithms to make decisions that affect their work, finances, and even their safety. One survey by YouGov found that nearly half (49%) of U.S. respondents admitted to feeling concerned about AI, while 22% said they were outright scared.

    Already, stories of AI misuse abound. The Chicago Sun-Times, for example, recently had to issue an apology after it published a summer reading list filled with AI-generated book recommendations — many of which didn’t even exist. It’s a blight that’s going to follow the paper around for a long time, having damaged its readers’ trust in ways that will be difficult, if not impossible, to repair.

    Related: Why Every Entrepreneur Must Prioritize Ethical AI — Now

    In general, AI transparency means “being honest about what a system is intended to do, where it fits with the organization’s overall strategy, which benefits and pitfalls it brings and how it is likely to impact people,” writes EY’s Raj Sharma for the World Economic Forum. Unfortunately, a lot of AI today is implemented behind a shroud of secrecy, “with powerful solutions developed behind closed doors by a small number of stakeholders.”

    When users don’t understand how a system works — or worse, discover later that they were misled — they feel deceived. As leaders, we can’t afford to treat transparency as an afterthought. It needs to be built into the product from the start. That means clearly communicating how your AI tools function, what data they rely on, what limitations exist and how you’re safeguarding against bias or misuse. Transparency doesn’t mean revealing your entire codebase — it means treating your users like the stakeholders that they are.

    Trust is fragile, and once broken, it can’t always be fixed. When you keep your users in the know, it doesn’t just build loyalty — it bolsters your reputation in the long term.

    In 2012, just after wrapping up a late-night hackathon with my small team, I received an email that sent my heart leaping into my throat: Our domain was being suspended due to a U.S. Secret Service investigation. At the time, Jotform was still a scrappy startup. We had no legal team, no PR advisor, no crisis plan whatsoever. I had a terrible, sinking feeling that everything we had worked so hard to build was suddenly at risk.

    After the initial shock, my first thought came to me with surprising clarity: We had to alert our users. I quickly typed up a blog post and emailed our customers directly.

    I kept it brief and to the point. “I wish we could provide more details about what happened, but we are also in the dark. We have not been given any information by GoDaddy or the Secret Service, other than our domain being suspended ‘as part of an ongoing law enforcement investigation,’” I wrote, before directing them to the media coverage quickly proliferating across the web.

    The rest of this article is locked.

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    Aytekin Tank

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  • After Studying 233 Millionaires, I Found 6 Habits That Fast-Track Wealth | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Entrepreneurship is the quickest path to wealth, offering the potential to bypass the slow grind of traditional saving and investing. I am a CPA, Certified Financial Planner and author of Rich Habits: The Routines Millionaires Use Daily That Will Help You Build Wealth.

    Over a five-year period, I studied the daily habits of 233 wealthy individuals, of which 177 were self-made millionaires, and 128 people living in poverty. My Rich Habits research, along with insights from other independent third-party experts/studies corroborating my research, reveals that entrepreneurship accelerates wealth-building when paired with specific habits.

    This article explores why entrepreneurship is the fast track to wealth and how my findings can guide aspiring entrepreneurs to success.

    Related: 10 Habits That Separate Rich and Successful Founders From Wannabe Entrepreneurs

    The entrepreneurial advantage

    My research shows that self-made millionaires who pursued entrepreneurship built wealth faster than those who relied on saving and investing as employees. In my five-year Rich Habits Study, “Saver-Investors” took an average of 32 years to accumulate $3.3 million, while entrepreneurs reached $7.4 million in just 12 years. This gap highlights entrepreneurship’s potential to compress the wealth-building timeline.

    Entrepreneurs can create multiple income streams, scale businesses and directly influence financial outcomes, unlike employees tied to fixed salaries. However, I must emphasize that success depends on adopting certain ‘Rich Habits’ — daily routines that set successful entrepreneurs apart.

    Below are the key habits from my research, tailored for aspiring entrepreneurs.

    1. Set clear, actionable goals

    In my Rich Habits study, 80% of self-made millionaires set specific, long-term goals and focused on them daily. For entrepreneurs, this means defining a clear vision — whether launching a product or hitting revenue targets — and breaking it into daily tasks.

    I found that successful entrepreneurs have a do it now mindset/daily mantra that encourages immediate action to maintain momentum.

    Actionable Tip: Write one major business goal for the next year and break it into monthly and daily tasks. Review progress daily to stay on track.

    Related: The Path to Becoming a Wealthy Entrepreneur Starts With Identifying Scarcity and Saying ‘No’ More Often

    2. Commit to continuous learning

    Successful entrepreneurs are lifelong learners. My Rich Habits study shows that 88% of millionaires dedicate at least 30 minutes daily to self-education, reading books on personal development or industry trends. In contrast, 77% of poor individuals in my study spent over an hour a day either watching TV, streaming, reading books of fiction, social media engagement and other online time-wasters. Knowledge keeps entrepreneurs competitive.

    Actionable Tip: Replace 30 minutes of social media with reading a business book or listening to an industry podcast. or reading industry journals

    3. Live frugally to re-invest

    Financial discipline is critical. Saver-Investor millionaires build their wealth by being frugal with their spending in order to save 20% or more of their net income, which they prudently invest themselves or through financial advisors. Entrepreneurs are different.

    While they do share the frugality habit with Saver-Investors, they don’t save like Saver-Investors. Instead, they live frugally in order to maximize the amount of profits, which they then reinvest back into their businesses — marketing, product development or hiring. In order to be able to live frugally, budget no more than 25% of net income on housing, 15% on food, 10% on entertainment and 5% on vacations.

    Actionable Tip: Automate investing 20% of your company’s profits into a business savings account to help you fund growth or provide a buffer.

    Related: Frugality Among the Wealthy: A Closer Look

    4. Build power relationships

    Networking is a cornerstone of success. In my study, I found that 93% of millionaires with mentors credited them, almost entirely, for their success in life. Mentors offer guidance, share processes that work, teach habits that automate success, teach what works and what does not work and open doors to influencers who are part of their inner circle.

    Wealthy entrepreneurs also invest significant time in cultivating “Power Relationships” with optimistic, success-minded peers and mentor others to strengthen their networks.

    Actionable Tip: Seek a mentor in your industry and ask for specific advice. Mentor someone else to build your network and refine your strategies.

    5. Take calculated risks

    Entrepreneurship involves risk, but successful entrepreneurs do their homework and make informed decisions prior to taking any risk. In my study, 27% of millionaires failed at least once in business but learned from their setbacks. They avoid reckless, speculative moves, relying on research, mentorship and market analysis to seize opportunities others miss.

    Actionable Tip: Before launching a venture, conduct market research and test ideas with a small-scale pilot program in order to minimize risk.

    6. Prioritize positivity and health

    A positive mindset and good physical health sustain entrepreneurial stamina and energy levels. My Rich Habits millionaires practiced “rich thinking,” controlling negative emotions and staying optimistic. Additionally, 76% exercised regularly to maintain energy and focus, enhancing decision-making and resilience.

    Actionable Tip: Spend 30 minutes daily on exercise like walking, yoga, weights or resistance exercises and practice gratitude to maintain positivity.

    Related: How to Build a Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Life

    The power of passion and persistence

    I learned from my Rich Habits research that passion fuels entrepreneurial success. Passion makes work fun. Passion gives you the energy, persistence and focus needed to overcome failures, mistakes and rejection.

    Passionate entrepreneurs endure long hours and challenges, while disciplined habits create a compounding effect. However, even the entrepreneurial fast track requires time — 12 years on average to reach multimillion-dollar wealth.

    Addressing challenges

    Critics of my work argue that systemic factors or demographic biases may influence wealth beyond habits. While barriers exist, my blind study focused on controllable behaviors. Entrepreneurs can’t eliminate external challenges, but can control daily actions, relationships and decisions to navigate them effectively.

    Entrepreneurship offers the fastest path to wealth for those who adopt the Rich Habits my research highlights. By setting goals, prioritizing learning, living frugally, building networks, taking calculated risks and maintaining positivity and health, aspiring entrepreneurs can emulate self-made millionaires. Wealth-building is a two-step process — creating and sustaining it — and entrepreneurship, with disciplined habits, is the engine that drives both steps faster than any other path.

    Start small, stay consistent and entrepreneurship will eventually lead you to financial success.

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    Tom Corley

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  • How to Make Sure Your Business Is Prepared For Any Disaster | Entrepreneur

    How to Make Sure Your Business Is Prepared For Any Disaster | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In today’s modern world, the rules of the game are changing faster than ever. The risks that businesses face are no longer just financial or operational — they’ve become a tangled web of uncertainties driven by tech breakthroughs, new regulations and unpredictable global events. If you’re leading a business today, navigating these risks with agility isn’t just smart — it’s essential for survival and success.

    Why risk management isn’t what it used to be

    The risk landscape has gotten a lot more complicated. What used to be about managing market volatility or supply chain hiccups has now evolved into a whole new ballgame. Look at the rise in cyberattacks. A recent PwC Pulse Survey shows that 58% of businesses see more frequent cyberattacks as a major risk, a concern that’s no longer just for IT departments but for the C-suite as well. When a cyberattack hits, it can halt production lines, compromise sensitive customer information and even bring down a company’s reputation in an instant.

    Or consider the energy sector, where the risk isn’t just about keeping the lights on anymore; it’s about managing carbon footprints and stranded assets. With global regulations pushing for sustainability, energy companies are finding themselves at a crossroads. Do they continue to invest in traditional fossil fuels, or do they pivot toward renewable energy sources? The financial stakes have never been higher, and the decisions made today could determine the industry’s future. Business leaders now have to rethink their entire risk strategy to stay in the game, balancing short-term profitability with long-term sustainability.

    Related: How to Navigate Risk, Regulation and Resilience in Entrepreneurship

    What’s driving this new risk environment?

    The modern risk environment is shaped by a variety of dynamic factors, each adding a layer of complexity to how we manage risk. Understanding these factors is key to staying ahead and ensuring that your business is not just reactive, but proactive.

    • Tech upgrades mean new threats: The digital revolution has brought about huge opportunities, but it also opens the door to significant cyber threats. With the increasing adoption of remote work and digital tools, the risk landscape has expanded dramatically. To stay ahead, companies need to invest in cybersecurity tools. But it’s not just about technology; it’s about building a culture of cybersecurity awareness where every employee understands their role in protecting the organization.
    • Regulatory shifts: Regulatory environments are becoming increasingly complex and global, with new rules emerging faster than ever. Businesses that fail to comply with such regulations face hefty fines and reputational damage. Companies that rely heavily on international supply chains are particularly vulnerable, as political shifts can lead to sudden changes in tariffs, import/export restrictions and even currency fluctuations. Businesses must not only monitor these developments but also have contingency plans in place to pivot quickly when necessary.
    • Extreme weather events: Natural disasters can cripple businesses. The impact of hurricanes, wildfires, floods and extreme weather events are being felt more frequently and with greater intensity. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that the financial toll of weather-related disasters is climbing into the billions each year. Businesses located in vulnerable regions must prioritize resilience and sustainability in their operations and develop comprehensive disaster recovery plans.
    • Health crises: The Covid-19 pandemic was a wake-up call for businesses worldwide, highlighting the need for preparedness in the face of public health crises. The pandemic’s impact on supply chains, consumer behavior and business operations underscored the importance of robust risk management strategies. Looking forward, future public health emergencies — whether they be pandemics or other large-scale health threats — will require organizations to build resilience through comprehensive health protocols, remote work capabilities and adaptive supply chain strategies.
    • Physical security: As physical threats like gun violence rise, investing in security measures to protect your people and assets is more important than ever. In addition to traditional security concerns, such as theft or vandalism, businesses now face the potential for violent incidents that can put employees’ lives at risk and disrupt operations. Enhancing safety protocols, from improving building access controls to conducting regular emergency drills, can help mitigate these risks.

    Related: Cyber Threats Are More Prevalent Than Ever — So Don’t Leave Your Business Exposed. Here’s How to Protect It

    How to stay ahead of the game

    Thriving in today’s risk environment means thinking ahead, staying adaptable and being ready to pivot when necessary. Here’s how:

    • All-in risk assessment: Take a deep dive into your risk environment and prioritize the threats that matter most. This means not just ticking boxes on a checklist but truly understanding the unique risks your business faces. But don’t stop there — risk assessments should be living documents, regularly updated to reflect the evolving landscape.
    • Integrated strategy: Make sure your risk management is baked into every decision. This isn’t just about having a plan on paper; it’s about creating a culture where risk considerations are part of the decision-making process at every level. From product development to market expansion, risk management should be integrated into all strategic discussions.
    • Resilience building: Strengthen your business continuity plans and promote adaptability. Resilience isn’t just about surviving a crisis — it’s about thriving in the aftermath. Developing robust business continuity plans ensures that you can maintain operations even in the face of significant challenges.
    • Physical security focus: Don’t skimp on physical security. From advanced access control systems to employee training programs, ensuring that your organization is ready for anything is crucial. Investing in state-of-the-art surveillance technologies, such as smart cameras and real-time monitoring systems, can provide an extra layer of protection.
    • Risk-aware culture: Get everyone on board with risk management. When it’s a shared responsibility, your team will be better equipped to handle whatever comes their way. Building a risk-aware culture starts at the top, with leadership setting the tone for the entire organization.

    Related: The Five-Step Process to Identify Risk and Improve Decision-Making

    Turn uncertainty into opportunity

    Yes, today’s risk landscape is complex and unpredictable, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. With a proactive approach, you can turn these challenges into opportunities. Businesses that view risk management not as a burden but as a strategic advantage are the ones that will thrive in this ever-changing world. By staying adaptable, resilient and forward-thinking, your business can not only survive but seize the opportunities that uncertainty brings. Remember, a solid risk management strategy isn’t just about avoiding pitfalls — it’s about driving success. In a world where the only constant is change, those who are prepared to embrace uncertainty will find themselves ahead of the game.

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    Randy Sadler

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  • How to Successfully Lead Your Team Through a Crisis | Entrepreneur

    How to Successfully Lead Your Team Through a Crisis | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In an unpredictable world, leaders often find themselves at the forefront of unforeseen challenges that demand swift decisions and decisive actions. Crisis leadership, the act of leading a group or organization through turbulent times, becomes an indispensable skill in such scenarios. The manner in which leaders react and guide their teams during a crisis can significantly impact the outcome and long-term health of an organization.

    In today’s business climate, crisis is unavoidable, and a leader’s ability to lead an organization through turbulent times often means the difference between success and failure.

    Related: 3 Keys to Leading a Business Through a Crisis

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    Stephen Nalley

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  • 5 High-Profile Business Nightmares to Learn From | Entrepreneur

    5 High-Profile Business Nightmares to Learn From | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In the world of search results and social media, just one misstep or unfortunate event can quickly escalate into a full-blown public relations (PR) crisis, posing a real threat to your company’s reputation and bottom line.

    That makes it essential to be prepared for potential PR problems and have a well-thought-out strategy to mitigate the fallout and protect brand integrity.

    Below, I look at several high-profile PR cases that captured global attention and provide crucial lessons on how business leaders and entrepreneurs can navigate PR challenges without letting things spin out of control.

    Related: 5 Key Things You Need Before Launching a PR Campaign

    1. Tylenol’s swift crisis management

    Over 40 years ago, Johnson & Johnson faced one of the most infamous PR crises in history, feeling the heat after seven people died from consuming cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. The company’s response to this PR nightmare set the gold standard for crisis management.

    Rather than downplaying the issue, Johnson & Johnson acted swiftly, recalling 31 million bottles of Tylenol and working closely with law enforcement and the media. By putting public safety first, the company demonstrated transparency and authenticity, rebuilding trust and restoring its reputation in the process.

    Johnson & Johnson’s swift action and crisis response show the importance of prioritizing public safety, acting quickly, and communicating openly throughout a PR issue, particularly when mitigating reputation damage and regaining public trust.

    2. United Airlines mishandled passenger incident

    In 2017, United Airlines faced a PR disaster following the release of a video depicting a passenger being forcibly removed from an overbooked United flight. The viral incident quickly led to widespread public outrage and criticism of the airline’s handling of the situation. At first, United not only appeared to lack empathy but failed to address the situation appropriately, creating an even bigger problem for the leading airline and its carefully cultivated image.

    Blowback from United’s initial response to this crisis helps illustrate the importance of tact, empathy, and genuine concern in the crisis management process, especially at the outset of the problem. Whether your brand is in the right or not, taking responsibility, apologizing sincerely, and outlining preventive measures you’ll take to avoid future issues is paramount.

    Related: How to Turn a Crisis into an Opportunity by Managing Negative Publicity

    3. BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill

    BP’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and subsequent oil spill significantly damaged the global energy brand’s image, quickly spiraling into a major reputational crisis with years-long impact. BP’s initial response was generally regarded as slow and defensive, leading to public outrage and accusations of negligence. The company struggled to contain the environmental damage and faced significant legal and financial repercussions well after the incident.

    While the Deepwater Horizon disaster was unique in scale and scope, it helps show the need to proactively address crises, respond quickly and transparently, and collaborate with experts whenever needed to mitigate brand erosion and demonstrate accountability.

    Related: A 3-Step Plan for Handling Any PR Crisis

    4. Equifax’s data breach fiasco

    Major credit reporting agency Equifax suffered a massive data breach in 2017, exposing the sensitive personal data of millions of consumers across the country. A slow response to the crisis, coupled with inadequate communication and mishandling of the situation, resulted in severe damage to the company’s reputation, eventually leading to congressional hearings.

    While the Equifax breach was significant in scale, data breaches at any level can create a PR nightmare for a business, sparking negative headlines that put the agency’s credibility on the hot seat. Combatting that lousy news and restoring trust with customers requires a careful and comprehensive crisis response effort that includes swiftly informing all affected parties and zeroing in on transparency, prompt communication, and clearly outlined remediation efforts and measures designed to prevent future breaches.

    5. Boeing’s 737 Max crisis

    Two deadly crashes between 2018 and 2019 involved Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, shining an unwanted spotlight on the aircraft manufacturer and its product development and oversight process. Unfortunately, the company’s initial response only seemed to make things worse, receiving significant criticism for lacking adequate transparency and accountability. The crisis led to a global grounding of the aircraft, a halt in production, and a loss of public confidence in the company.

    Though extreme, Boeing’s 737 Max crisis serves as an object lesson to any brand coping with product-related issues, demonstrating the importance of prioritizing safety, cooperating with regulatory authorities, and communicating openly and honestly about the steps you’re taking to resolve the problem.

    Learning from the past

    High-profile PR crises offer invaluable lessons not just on managing your brand during challenging times but also on building a reputation management plan that limits the damage and keeps you in firm control throughout the process. Engaging in swift and transparent crisis management that prioritizes public safety, demonstrates empathy, and takes responsibility are all fundamental principles of crisis response that can help protect your brand while preventing things from worsening down the line.

    Additionally, fostering a culture of integrity, implementing robust compliance and ethics programs, and prioritizing the well-being of employees and customers will contribute to building a resilient and trustworthy reputation.

    By learning from the mistakes and successes of these high-profile cases, you can position your business to navigate crises gracefully, safeguarding your reputation and securing long-term success in a competitive business landscape.

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    Adam Petrilli

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  • 10 Strategies to Help Businesses Thrive in Times of Crisis | Entrepreneur

    10 Strategies to Help Businesses Thrive in Times of Crisis | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In times of crisis, businesses face unprecedented challenges that can test their resilience and ability to adapt. However, with the right mindset and strategies, it is possible to not only survive but also grow from these circumstances. Many companies invest significant time, money and other resources into crisis prevention. The reality is that this can be futile because crises will happen. And they will often be unforeseen. So, it is more about having the right foundational components in place to address them when they do happen.

    Here are ten effective ways businesses can prepare for, learn from and grow from a crisis without being overwhelmed by it.

    Related: 5 Ways to Help Your Business Win in Times of Crisis

    1. Foster a culture of open communication

    Maintain transparent and open lines of communication with your employees, customers and stakeholders during a crisis. Trying to hide or artificially mitigate problems once they occur is not only disingenuous, but it takes critical energy away from what is important. Share updates, address concerns, and actively listen to feedback. This approach builds trust and enables everyone to work together towards a common goal. Ultimately, how you engage with your workforce and the impacted community during a crisis will go a long way toward forging even stronger relationships.

    2. Build strong relationships with stakeholders

    Develop and maintain strong relationships with your customers, suppliers, investors and other key stakeholders. During a crisis, these relationships can provide valuable support, resources and collaborative opportunities. Cultivate a sense of partnership and mutual trust that extends beyond challenging times.

    3. Analyze and learn from past crises

    Study past crises, and identify the lessons learned. Conduct thorough post-crisis analyses to understand what worked well and what didn’t. Use these insights to refine your crisis management strategies, update your protocols and enhance your overall preparedness.

    4. Seek professional guidance

    Recognize when you need external expertise to navigate a crisis effectively. Engage with consultants, industry experts or mentors who can provide valuable insights and guidance. Their experience and knowledge can help you make informed decisions and identify new opportunities for growth.

    Related: How to Communicate Effectively During a Crisis

    5. Establish crisis management protocols

    Prepare for crises by creating a comprehensive crisis management plan. This is not about trying to identify every potential risk and developing strategies to mitigate them. This is about the process. Knowing who does what and who supports whom when something goes wrong. Assign specific roles and responsibilities to team members, and establish clear communication channels to ensure efficient decision-making during a crisis.

    6. Invest in technology and digital capabilities

    Leverage technology to enhance your business operations and customer experience. Embrace digital transformation, and invest in tools and platforms that allow for remote work, online sales, and effective communication. Adapting to the digital landscape equips your business to navigate crises with agility. Allow, invite, and maybe even require employees to learn all of the platforms. The better-rounded your employees are, the more adaptable and resilient your business will be.

    7. Embrace a growth mindset

    Develop a growth mindset within your organization. Encourage your team to view crises as opportunities for learning, innovation and growth. This mindset will foster resilience and enable your business to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Fear is often the most powerful negative component of any crisis. When the collective mindset is support, resilience and perseverance, it leaves little room for fear.

    8. Prioritize employee well-being

    Recognize that your employees are the backbone of your business. During a crisis, prioritize their well-being by providing support, resources and opportunities for growth. Regularly check in on their mental health, offer flexibility, and foster a positive work environment that promotes resilience. A great way to do this is to pair up responsibilities so no one person shoulders too much of the burden.

    Related: 3 Keys to Leading a Business Through a Crisis

    9. Diversify creatively

    One way to address diversification is to avoid over-reliance on a single revenue stream that can make businesses vulnerable during a crisis. Explore new opportunities, and diversify your revenue streams to ensure stability. This could involve expanding into new markets, offering new products or services or establishing strategic partnerships. This is a huge opportunity to diversify how you choose to diversify.

    Rather than relying on the same resources, invite employees to feel more vested by asking them for ideas on diversification and expansion to meet and exceed the needs and wants of customers. This will bring fresh ideas and create a stronger sense of pride and dedication from employees. Likewise, diversify the knowledge base by educating more employees as to the roles, responsibilities and processes of others so that more people can fill more roles as needed.

    10. Stay agile and adaptable

    In times of crisis, adaptability is crucial. Embrace a flexible mindset, and be prepared to pivot your business strategy, offerings or operations as needed. Monitor market trends, customer needs and industry developments closely, and be willing to make necessary adjustments to stay relevant and resilient.

    Navigating a crisis can be overwhelming, but it is also an opportunity for businesses to learn, evolve and grow. By building strong relationships and open lines of communication, implementing effective crisis management protocols and staying agile, businesses can not only survive but also thrive in the face of adversity. With strategic planning, agility and a commitment to continuous improvement, businesses can emerge stronger, more resilient and better prepared for future challenges.

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    John Peitzman

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  • 5 Reputation Strategies I Learned While Working with Celebrities | Entrepreneur

    5 Reputation Strategies I Learned While Working with Celebrities | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    C’mon, is there anyone out there who doesn’t think Kim K. and Pete D. were a curated love affair? Hollywood is full of set-up relationships and staged situations aimed at one goal: garner media attention. And the more attention, the better, because increased media attention translates directly to increased dollar value.

    Brand image is everything to a celebrity’s career. When the image is positive, it can influence everything from box office share to book sales, from what tequila flies off the shelves to what paint color is all the rage. One utterance of a coined term can go viral within hours. One sighting of a piece of clothing on a certain someone can catapult a design star overnight.

    But when a celebrity brand takes a hit, it can be devastating. It isn’t always — some reputations prove more resilient than others, but if the damage is great enough, fans and followers will knock you off the pedestal as quickly as they hoisted you up there.

    In my 15-year career in PR, I’ve worked with various celebrity types, including influencers, A-listers and corporate bigwigs. A crisis can pop up at any time, especially in today’s hypersensitive cancel culture, and that’s when more than just a hastily tweeted apology or lying low for a while is called for. That’s when it’s time for a crisis expert to step in with some strategic moves that have the power to move the needle in the direction you want it to go.

    Here are some of the tried-and-true methods that have gotten my clients out of hot water when it threatens to scald their reputations permanently.

    Related: Why Investing in Reputation Management is Crucial for Your Business Strategy

    1. There’s always a scapegoat

    In every narrative, there has to be a villain. And your job is to make sure the villain isn’t your client. Case in point: When I handled a celebrity divorce, the famous one, my client (the husband), was getting raked over the coals for some silly choices and behaviors — he seemed like the bad guy in the story, but really, his not-well-known wife was the one cheating.

    We documented everything meticulously and were able to back up our claims of her infidelity; in the process, we pointed the blame where blame was due and salvaged his career. We didn’t make the wife the scapegoat; she was the scapegoat. But the public didn’t know that until we told a more accurate story than the one that was initially circulated.

    Related: How to Turn Failures Into Wins As an Entrepreneur

    2. Someone is pulling the strings for the other party, so you’d best have someone doing the same on your side

    People work hard to build a life, a name or a brand. An insurance policy is needed to ensure they don’t lose it all at the whim of public fodder. A publicity specialist is that insurance, operating behind the scenes to move pieces into place and leverage connections to rewrite a narrative heading south.

    PR firms are often hired for just this purpose alone — for on-call crisis management and nothing more — because it’s far better to have already an established relationship with an expert in your corner than to seek out a stranger once a crisis has arisen frantically.

    I remember a story that was about to break about a client of mine that would have reflected poorly on him because of a bit of misinformation. Because I already knew and trusted him quite well, I believed his account of things. I picked up my cell phone, called the CNN writer, and got the nonfactual information edited out from the story. If I didn’t have that in with CNN, my client’s career could have suffered greatly.

    3. Use the press to your advantage

    The press can be your enemy, but it can also be your friend. It’s its own form of gossip mill and works in quite the same way. You know how bad news can spread like wildfire when the media sinks its teeth into a juicy story? Well, the opposite is equally true: Good news can be canvassed far and wide if you have a worthwhile story to tell and get it out there in time.

    If there’s anything the PR community has learned in this day and age of big-name and big-brand crises plastered all over social media, it’s that narratives have power. On behalf of your clientele, you need to tell the narratives they want to be publicized. The press literally follows celebrities around everywhere. It’s just as easy to get them to snap a shot of your client speaking at a charity brunch as it is to get a shot of them sneaking out of a late-night club bleary-eyed. Book the photo op. Get the views. With enough views, a new story is written.

    Related: 5 Ways to Make Journalists Actually Want to Publish Your Brand’s Stories

    4. Know when to hold them and when to let them go

    All this said, there is a time and place to sit tight and wait things out. Strategizing is one thing, but smart management is another. When someone’s sizzling in the flames of bad press, that’s not the time to open their new restaurant or launch their new fragrance. Wait until the fire has died down but isn’t completely out — when your client is still a hot object of media attention but no longer the catch of the day — and then have them rise from the ashes.

    5. Listen, learn and do NOT repeat

    Helping someone out of a pickle once or twice is to be expected when you manage reputations. Anyone can get into a bit of trouble over almost anything these days. But if a client keeps making the same mistakes, you can either choose to cut them loose, or you can firmly guide them to stop pushing the repeat button!

    Attend to what’s being said about a public figure or brand; learn what you can from how these reports affect (or do not affect) your interest; and then, at almost all costs, avoid getting in hot water again. The easiest way out of a sticky situation is to not get into it in the first place.

    PR is an art, not a science, and like any art, you can get training in it to learn how to draw your own portrait, paint your own scene and write your own script. With media training and advice from publicity veterans, you can get ahead and get in front of the story — the story you want to tell.

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    Emily Reynolds Bergh

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  • Well-capitalized banks are good for everyone, except Wall Street CEOs

    Well-capitalized banks are good for everyone, except Wall Street CEOs

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    Bank CEOs and lobbyists argue against high capital requirements not because they harm the economy, but because they reduce the size of their bonuses, writes Dennis Kelleher, of Better Markets.

    InsideCreativeHouse – stock.adobe.com

    Well-capitalized large banks are essential for a strong banking sector, financial system and economy where Main Street families, businesses and community banks can thrive. That’s because appropriately capitalized banks are strong enough to continue providing credit through the economic cycle, in good times and bad, which keeps the economy growing and creates jobs. It also reduces the depth, length and cost of recessions that large bank failures usually cause. The only thing standing between a failing large bank, taxpayer bailouts and an economic downturn — if not catastrophe — is the amount of capital that a large bank has to absorb its own losses.

    If large banks do not have enough capital to absorb their own losses and prevent their failure (i.e., if they are undercapitalized), then taxpayers end up providing that capital after the fact in the form of bailouts to prevent their failure and a collapse of the economy and a second Great Depression. That’s what happened recently with the failures and bailouts of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank and what happened in 2008 with virtually all the giant Wall Street banks.

    That’s why these large banks are called “too big to fail”: If they were allowed to fail, they would cause contagion and the collapse of the financial system and economy. It’s important to remember that the dangers to the country created by undercapitalized banks only arise from the largest, systemically important banks, which are those with more than $100 billion in assets, or just 33 out of the nearly 4,700 banks in the country.

    Because history proves that undercapitalized large banks pose such grave and grievous threats to the country, policymakers and financial regulators must require those banks to have sufficient capital to absorb the losses that their profit-making activities might cause. That’s why completion of the so-called Basel Endgame and other capital measures are so important, as recently discussed by Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr and as proposed by the Fed and FDIC.

    Unfortunately, what’s good for Main Street (well-capitalized banks) isn’t very good for Wall Street, especially for Wall Street CEOs and executives. While increased bank capital is essential to protect banks, the financial system and Main Street families’ jobs, homes and businesses, it reduces the size of bankers’ bonuses, which are greatly increased by having as little capital as possible. That’s because bankers’ bonuses are based largely on what’s called return on equity (ROE) which is amplified by low capital and high leverage. Thus, the lower the capital a bank has the higher the ROE and the higher the executive bonuses.

    This perverse anti-capital incentive is made worse by the threat posed by “too big to fail” banks. The CEOs of those banks don’t really have to worry about having enough capital or their banks collapsing into bankruptcy because, if they get into trouble, they won’t be allowed to fail and will be bailed out (as happened in 2023 and 2008). This is a moral hazard that incentivizes banks to engage in very high risk, highly leveraged activities that generate outsize returns and bonuses because if they fail, they get to shift their losses to taxpayers who fund the bailouts while the executives get to keep their bonuses.

    Think of the Silicon Valley Bank CEO who had pocketed tens of millions of dollars in the years before it collapsed and then jetted off to his mansion in Hawaii literally as the FDIC was bailing out his bank to prevent its failure. That failure alone cost $16.1 billion, which was an injection of capital that the bank itself should have had to prevent its failure in the first place.

    Put differently, if a bank CEO really doesn’t have to worry about his bank failing, then he really doesn’t care if his bank has enough capital to absorb losses and prevent a failure that won’t happen anyway. And, if that CEO’s bonus is bigger the less capital his bank has, then he wants to have the least amount of capital that he can get away with.

    Unsurprisingly, Wall Street’s CEOs, trade groups, lobbyists, PR firms and allies never mention any of this. Instead, they repeat inaccurate, baseless and dangerous claims about capital requirements hurting lending, jobs, economic growth and competition — basically anything to avoid talking about their own bonuses. They are claiming that the real danger to Americans is from overcapitalized — not undercapitalized — banks. However, that is a smokescreen to conceal their self-interest in keeping the amount of capital as low as possible to keep their bonuses as high as possible. There is no evidence banks have ever been overcapitalized and there has never been a banking or financial crash caused by banks that had too much capital.

    Regrettably, the large banks, their trade groups and allies are engaged in a comprehensive, coordinated and extremely well-funded two-part disinformation campaign. The first part is to deceive the public and elected officials into believing that higher capital hurts rather than protects them. The second part is to prevent regulators from requiring large banks to have enough capital to absorb their own losses and prevent failure, contagion, crashes and bailouts.

    The real threat is from undercapitalized banks and regulators must require large banks to have enough capital to eliminate that threat.

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    Dennis Kelleher

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  • Either regulate Big Tech’s entry into finance now, or regret it later

    Either regulate Big Tech’s entry into finance now, or regret it later

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    After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the public discourse has been brimming with hindsight advice on what regulators and lawmakers have missed. Yet nobody is talking about a major trend that is injecting future risk into the financial system: Big Tech’s entry into banking. Dangers are growing exponentially with the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi), but defining what tech titans should be allowed to do is tricky.

    Over the last years tech giants have been racing toward financial services. Apple, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon and Meta (Facebook’s parent company) have all leaped into the payments market. Some partner with licensed banks to offer credit, while Amazon has even entered the corporate lending business. In perhaps the most ambitious initiative yet, Facebook led a group of corporations that attempted to issue a global super-currency far away from the reach of central banks. And though it eventually failed, there are already new plans to run money in the metaverse.

    If you wonder how deep Big Tech can get into banking look to China. WeChat Pay and Alipay have long since dethroned credit card schemes and other incumbents. Alibaba’s interest-bearing micro-savings tool Yu’e Bao became the world’s largest money market fund in 2019. Tencent runs a licensed virtual bank together with traditional finance players. Examples abound.

    Most of these forays went hand in hand with crucial innovation such as mobile payments or the proliferation of open banking. They slashed costs for consumers, boosted financial inclusion and enhanced usability. Yet these advances are also fraught with dangers.

    Data privacy is a big one. Monopolistic tendencies are another. These are issues hotly debated by politicians across the globe, but what often goes unnoticed is the systemic risk Big Tech’s entry injects into the financial system.

    The International Monetary Fund, the Financial Stability Board and the Bank for International Settlements have all warned of the ensuing cross-sectoral, cross-border risks. Laws are not yet ready to let tech tycoons control the arteries of the global economy. And as the age of decentralized finance unfurls, the dangers are put under a magnifying glass.

    While projects such as Apple or Google Pay were confined to one layer, the triumphal march of blockchain technology and digital assets lets Big Tech compete on the level of assets, settlements, gateways and applications. Facebook’s aforementioned digital currency, called Libra, is a case in point. Had it been successful, Facebook would have had a say in the issuance of the asset, the blockchain on which settlement occurred and the wallet by which users manage their money.

    Digital assets are no isolated space anymore. Increasingly, real-life assets are merging with on-chain ones. This interconnectedness means that contagion can easily spread from the unregulated DeFi space to the traditional financial system.

    Tech titans are already at the brink of turning into shadow banks. And if they are honest about achieving their visions, say of building the metaverse, then they will inevitably have to put their weight behind DeFi as well.

    So how does all this trickle down to concrete policies? The first thing is to put competition on an equal footing, allowing technology giants, banks and fintechs to compete fairly in all areas of tomorrow’s world of finance. Laws cannot block one group from tinkering with crypto assets while giving another free rein. On- and off-chain assets will melt together, whether regulators like it or not. It is better to pen the rules early on than to sleepwalk into an inevitable future.

    Unfortunately, some lawmakers are sprinting in the opposite direction. Rather than bringing the increasing DeFi activity onto regulated turf, they want to bar banks from even touching digital assets, hence leaving it to unregulated entities including Big Tech. But there is more to do.

    Breaking up tech titans, as some politicians suggest, is not a viable option. Neither is banning them from financial services. Legislation such as the Keep Big Tech out of Finance Act would rob the banking sector of much-welcome innovation and competition. Yet while data giants are innovation powerhouses, they must not enjoy preferential treatment and they must not pile up risks unnoticed. The balancing act can only succeed if today’s approach of activity-based regulation yields to an entity-based one. It is not sufficient that tech titans must solely abide by isolated rules that govern, for example, payments or selling insurance. Due to their clout, tech goliaths must be designated as critical infrastructure providers and as such be regulated on the corporate level just like traditional banks, who have to abide by rules on capital requirements, corporate governance and reporting, as well as numerous restrictions on activities and exposures.

    Furthermore, entity-based regulation impacts a company’s risk calculation. If regulated entities break the rules, they face losing
    the license to operate, not simply fines. “We’re sorry and we’re working on a solution” should not be an acceptable answer for companies dealing with data security and most certainly not for those managing money. Hence, activity-based rules can only be a supplement, not a substitute, for regulating systemically important organizations.

    There will be those who argue that technology giants still make up a comparably small fraction of the financial system, yet we have seen that Big Tech is silent about its ambitions all the way up to a big bang announcement. Think Libra or Apple Pay. Due to their unparalleled consumer access, financial resources and technological know-how, these forays can upend a market overnight. And due to Big Tech’s nature of global and cross-industry operations this risk could spread through the world economy like a wildfire. Regulators and lawmakers would do well to act before another crisis ensues.

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    Igor Pejic

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  • How to Make Better Decisions More Quickly

    How to Make Better Decisions More Quickly

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    My phone kept ringing off the hook. I was receiving a flood of notifications, and the news kept giving mixed reports. March of 2020 wasn’t just a frenzy, it was absolute chaos. But I don’t need to remind you of that fact — it’s hard not to recall those initial days of the pandemic.

    Back then, nobody seemed to know what was going on. There are no “founder guidelines” for what to do when an unprecedented pandemic hits. In those moments, it’s just you and your choices.

    Colleagues were scrambling to set up Zoom meetings and re-structuring their organizations due to the new economic uncertainty. And we all had to address the biggest question of all: What’s going to happen?

    In their enlightening story for Harvard Business Review, contributors David J. Snowden and Mary E Boone note that “Working in unfamiliar environments can help leaders and experts approach decision-making more creatively.”

    As CEO of my company, Jotform, there were no easy answers to give, but I knew that it was up to me to remain a steady harbor for my team. We’d have to work together to develop new coping mechanisms. And it was also up to me to figure out a variety of decisions. This meant that I needed to leave my comfort zone and come up with an entirely new way of leading.

    Why leaders need to choose the right framework for decision-making

    When settings are unfamiliar and challenging, we shouldn’t rely on our old ways of doing things. Instead, we need to learn to identify the signals of when a shift in leadership is needed.

    For instance, I know of many business colleagues who were paralyzed when the pandemic struck. It took them a long time to change the way they made their decisions — meaning their teams were also caught in this limbo.

    That’s the thing about being a leader: People are looking to you for reassurance and guidance. We have to be ultra-clear about our communication and our decisions.

    Researchers Snowden and Boone identified several frameworks for decision-making. However, I’d like to share some of the strategies that worked for me during the upheaval of 2020 and have continued to help me navigate the following years up until now.

    Related: “Quitting Is A Virtue”: Why This Decision-Making Expert Says That Quitting Can Be A Growth Strategy

    1. Learn to make quick decisions

    Entrepreneur contributor Sanchita Dash writes that “One of the most important traits of being an entrepreneur is being able to take quick decisions that more often than not, decide the fate of your company.” She wrote this back in 2018 when this practice wasn’t nearly as essential as it has become today.

    A fast approach doesn’t just guarantee you don’t remain stuck, but it also ensures your employees feel a greater sense of psychological safety — which will affect your organization’s morale and productivity in the long run.

    There are many articles about why we need to slow down to make the wisest decisions during a crisis, but I believe that leaders also need to develop agility. Of course, this doesn’t mean going into stressful overdrive thinking you have to rapidly resolve every problem cropping up. You’ll only make yourself sick and burn out.

    I’m generally a big proponent of growing slowly and steadily as a business — it’s one of the main pillars of my company. But when it comes to decision-making, I agree with the founder of Polash Ventures, Lalit Upadhyay. “As an entrepreneur, you need to take decisions quickly as the active time frame for a current decision is going to be very short,” he tells Dash. “The result of the decision one has taken will show whether it was a quality decision or not.”

    Moreover, he affirms that “the entrepreneurial journey is all about taking the right decisions with confidence and positivity, firmly at the right time, one after another.”

    Related: Want to Be More Memorable to People? Ask Yourself This One Thing.

    2. During a crisis, avoid micromanaging at all costs

    Lately, I’ve been writing a lot about the importance of cutting out hard deadlines from your organization. Why? Because people who feel the pressure to produce won’t do their best work. In the case of my form-building company, I’ve come up with a framework for leading that is about avoiding any kind of micromanaging. It has no place here.

    This was especially vital to cut out during 2020 when the world came to a halt. Suddenly, every employee was forced to juggle their work and home responsibilities like never before — and flexibility wasn’t just a nice option, it was mandatory. We couldn’t demand that our teams finish a project by the same means they had done in days past.

    Earlier this year Ivan Popov made the case for why leaders need to stop micromanaging their teams and learn to let go. “Employees all over the world work in a constantly changing and evolving work environment,” he wrote for Entrepreneur. “While leaders and managers should focus on ways to improve their team’s overall work experience, they should also not forget about upgrading their leadership strategies.”

    Taking the above into consideration, your framework for decision-making shouldn’t just be about your bottom line, but also lead to a more fluid workflow and more dynamic culture.

    Related: Ask This One Question If You Want to Succeed

    3. Don’t try to find all the right answers — just act

    This one is particularly tricky for perfectionists who believe they can burn the candle at both ends figuring out the right solution for each problem.

    As someone who struggles with this tendency, I’m here to tell you that the adage is right when it says “done is better than perfect.”

    Snowden and Boone note that the pandemic demands decisive action, but that good leadership also “requires openness to change on an individual level.”

    They add: “Truly adept leaders will know not only how to identify the context they’re working in at any given time but also how to change their behavior and their decisions to match that context.”

    I humbly attribute my ability to manage this crisis with a dose of confidence and grace to my agility as a leader.

    Related: How to Use Mental Models to Make Better Decisions Faster

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    Aytekin Tank

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  • 5 Team Management Secrets From a Serial Entrepreneur

    5 Team Management Secrets From a Serial Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    I have built several businesses in my life, and my foremost task has always been to assemble a primary team to set the foundation for the main business processes. Skilled professionals that care about what they are doing and are dedicated to ensuring the success of whatever venture you’re undertaking. After all, 80-90% of your business success depends on having the right people with you.

    Related: 10 Time-Tested Secrets of Serial Entrepreneurs

    Role delegation

    My first task when launching a new business is finding the “right” people so the team can scale in size and skill. My second order of business is to find someone who can handle the bulk of management for me. After that is taken care of, I can step aside and only get involved in strategic development as a founder. I went through this model several times in my life, and it has proved itself invaluable.

    Scaling a business from 20-30 employees to 50-100 is a massive milestone in the career of all entrepreneurs. For big and medium-sized businesses, management delegation is essential. Instead of trying to control everything to the last detail, better results can be obtained by finding a team of competent professionals that can provide in-depth focus on specific tasks and branches of the company.

    Related: 7 Rules for Entrepreneurs to Delegate Effectively

    More brain power

    In any organization, there will always be contrasting views and opinions, and the task of a wise CEO is to put together a creative team that can generate the best ideas. Business models shouldn’t be set in stone but should shift and change based on the circumstances in which a company operates. The world is constantly evolving, so blindly following a rigid business model risks leading a company to bankruptcy.

    Paying attention to the team’s ideas is needed to maintain a creative spirit and dynamic business model. When a rational, well-reasoned idea is proposed that does not radically contradict the company values, a good founder has no reason to oppose its implementation.

    Effective crisis management

    When the business is running stable, and profits are going up, founders can take a step back and provide general guidance for the company in its growth while leaving the management details to subordinates. However, during a crisis, founders should return their focus to overseeing company operations directly and dedicating themselves to solving the situation.

    I experienced this firsthand: before I started Crypterium, which is now Choise.com, I was CEO of a company engaged in the processing business. At one point, it became apparent that this market did not have excellent prospects, so we needed to reorganize and find a new direction to develop in. My idea was to build a business in the crypto space.

    Together with the team, we applied our expertise and evolved into a crypto bank. A lot of effort went in, and the process was not easy, but thanks to the combined effort, we were successful and have significantly developed.

    Related: 7 Outdated Habits That Will Paralyze Your Business

    Diversity is a virtue

    Diversity is a virtue in business. Regardless of what type of business we’re talking about, there should always be a mix of different competencies. This is especially true for startups in emerging spaces such as fintech. This market often moves so fast and unpredictably that a diverse team is needed to always stay on top of the newest changes.

    Successful teams combine different competencies and skills to develop the company’s potential most efficiently. It is essential that each position suits the team members’ characters, for example, reliable and responsible lawyers, honest financiers, daring marketers, creative designers, proactive sales managers, and so on.

    Related: Be Intentional About Diversity

    An inclusive workspace

    Our team has always been open to people with different backgrounds and views. It is essential that team members feel comfortable at work to avoid a toxic environment that is detrimental to the company’s goals.

    However, a set of shared values is needed to unite a diverse team of different characters, nationalities, and viewpoints. That’s where corporate culture steps in, combining very different mentalities with values common to the whole company

    To summarize

    Some founders often make the error of being too much of a perfectionist and always wanting to have everything under direct control, no matter how unsustainable the workload is. However, effective team management is a must-have for any entrepreneur on a quest to scale his business. Building a team of target-focus professionals is essential for any entrepreneur with a substantially big company. Remember, no one can do it alone.

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    Vladimir Gorbunov

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  • Cheaters Are Everywhere. To Survive, Leaders Must Stay One Step Ahead.

    Cheaters Are Everywhere. To Survive, Leaders Must Stay One Step Ahead.

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Good gracious, chess savant Hans Niemann (allegedly) cheat in more than 100 matches? That seems to be what the chess community and reigning chess champ Magnus Carlsen are insinuating. Apparently, it’s not just the chess world that’s fallen victim to a cheating scandal. The fishing community has been rocked after it was recently revealed that lead weights were used to overstate the size of a fish caught in a Lake Erie contest. When will this insanity end?

    The fact is that it will never end. Cheating is as American as apple pie. I know this because I’ve been running a small business for more than 25 years. And when you run a small business for that long, you get used to people who cheat you out of money or in business. They’re everywhere and on both sides of the business.

    It’s the woman in California who allegedly embezzled more than a million bucks from her employer. Or another woman in Pennsylvania who was accused of stealing $2 million from her employer’s credit card. Let’s also give a shout-out to the bookkeeper from Albuquerque who is thought to have stolen $175 thousand from her employer and another bookkeeper in Rhode Island who was ordered to pay $600 thousand that she pilfered from her employer. Oh, and let’s not forget the ex-Apple employee that was charged with theft, taking kickbacks and money laundering to the tune of $10 million. Or the administrator at the Yale School of Medicine, who pleaded guilty to taking more than $40 million. Yes, $40 million.

    But it doesn’t end with employees. Some business owners can’t be trusted, either.

    Like the restaurant owner in New York’s Hudson Valley who was convicted of torching his business for the insurance money. Or the Missouri restaurant owner — and many others — who allegedly defrauded the government out of Paycheck Protection Program funds. There’s the diner in Pennsylvania and the BBQ joint in Texas that cheated (allegedly in the BBQ place’s case) its employees out of their tips. And another guy in Hudson Valley (is there something in the water there?) that was sentenced for defrauding prospective franchisees of his bagel company. And then there’s the restaurant owner in Connecticut who was convicted and the auto shop owner in Florida who was accused of cheating on their taxes.

    Related: Confessions of a Cheating Nation: One in Four Have Stolen From Their Employers

    These are just a few of the stories that actually made it to the media over the past few months. But you and I know that we’re just scratching the surface. There are cheating employees who steal office supplies and inventory and take sick days when they’re not actually sick. There are cheating business owners who defraud the government, overbill their customers, negotiate in bad faith with their suppliers and promise their employees compensation that they never have any intention of paying. A lot of this stuff never makes the news. A lot of this stuff is going on right now. A lot of the people doing this stuff never get caught.

    It’s not just Hans Niemann who cheats. There are cheaters everywhere. And anyone who has run a business for a period of time will confirm that. It’s a fact of life. So here’s some advice: Don’t waste your time getting upset, angry or frustrated. You’ll never stop the cheating. But you can minimize the financial impacts on your business. How?

    Related: ‘Lying and Cheating to Get Money’: Elizabeth Holmes Trial Begins in California

    Start by requiring people in financial positions to take time off multiple times a year — because cheating bookkeepers get found out when they’re not around. Make sure you’re segregating financial duties, so the same person who’s handling cash isn’t handling the books or invoicing. Require multiple signatures and multi-factor authentication on your bank account and get notices whenever certain transactions are completed. Have someone outside your company do the bank reconciliations because another set of eyes often sees things. Lock up your office supplies and inventory. Install security cameras. Pay attention to your general ledger and financial statements and question anything that seems out of the ordinary. Trust your people, but verify. Don’t be cynical, but be realistic.

    And what about you? Are you cheating on your taxes? Your customers? Your suppliers? Here’s some news for you: people know. They can tell. Word gets around. And if you are behaving this way, then I can guarantee that you’re not running a very successful, sustainable business because ethical business people don’t do business with unethical people. And business is all about trust. And reputation. There’s no question that you’re losing out on deals, projects and customers. I know it. And so do you.

    Cheaters are going to cheat. Even chess players and fishermen. Even your employees. But not you. When you’re a business owner, there are plenty of reasons to lose sleep at night. But you can minimize your losses from your cheating employees. And you can rest a little bit easier if you’re able to look at yourself in the mirror each morning.

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    Gene Marks

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